ARCADIA – Saturday was quiet for area athletes at the 43rd annual Arcadia Invitational.

California High School’s Terris Jones finished seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, 7 1/2 inches, and La Serna’s Adam Vega finished 10th in the 800-meter invitational with a mark of 1 minute, 56.15 seconds.

The main event, however, belonged to Arcadia’s Catrina McAlister.

Under the bright lights and in front of a capacity crowd, McAlister convincingly showed why the spotlight belonged to her, clocking a personal-best 10:27.86 to win the 3,200-meter invitational.

McAlister, a junior, finished third in the event last year, but there was no denying her bid for glory this time around. It didn’t take long for McAlister to pull away from the field. In fact, McAlister was so far ahead by the third lap that she couldn’t believe the separation.

“I was looking at the screen and that helped a lot,” said McAlister, who collapsed on the arms of a friend when she crossed the finish line.

That she was spent was apparent, telling a friend she had not yet gathered herself enough to hold the winning medal and watch. A few minutes later, she sported a wide smile as she addressed a crowd that she easily and quickly won over.

“I knew there were girls that would be right there with me, and that’s exactly what happened,” she said. “They stayed there until I knew I was ready to go and went.”

That happened after the one-mile mark.

“That’s when I knew it was time to go,” she said. “I was looking at the screen and saw the gap and was like, `Wow.’ That really motivated me to keep separating from the crowd.

“It was weird to see such a big gap, but I kept telling myself, `This is my track.’ I practice on this every day, so there’s no reason why I couldn’t run well today.”

McAlister, who improved her previous best of 10:29 set at the Irvine Invitational, practices at Arcadia, but noted that the atmosphere was much different.

“Of course it’s different because of the crowd, and all the workers here are my teammates,” she said. “To hear them cheer me on, that’s so amazing. That made it even more enjoyable to win it here at home.”

Mater Dei’s Michael Woepse in the pole vault attempted a meet-record 17 feet, 2 inches, but failed to clear the mark in three attempts. He still won the event, though, after clearing 17 feet.

Alex Bishop of Brophy Prep (Ariz.) finished a distant second with a 15-7 mark.

Sixteen runners finished under the 9-minute mark in the 3,200-meter invitational. Jake Hurysz of Eastern Alam (N.C.) won with an 8:49.76 mark.